Over the course of the franchise's largely successful 95
years of existence,Green
Bay Packers fans have had plenty to cheer -- and cheers -- about.

LOL cheers nice

There's the 13 titles (nine NFL championships and four
Super Bowl victories), which are more than any other team.

There's the legendary coach with the fabled quotes, Vince
Lombardi, for whom the Super Bowl trophy is named.

It makes me so fucking sick to my stomach that the
goddamn NFL trophy is named after their coach and we can't win it. God
damn it.

There's the trifecta of exceptional quarterbacks, Bart
Starr and Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, the
last two of whom have provided the franchise more than two decades of sustained
winning.

Fuck you guys. Tavaris, Joe Webb, Ponder, Cassel,
fuck.

There's the home stadium, Lambeau Field, the oldest venue
in the NFL, considered a hallowed ground of triumph on tundra.

And there's the pride and pleasure that comes from Green
Bay being the smallest market in American professional sports, yet having
arguably (or incontrovertibly, if you asked them) the most loyal and passionate
fans in football.

I wasn't alive, but when the Packers fucking STUNK before
Favre was around, I don't think they were as loyal, but let's move on.

Indeed, Packers supporters have had a lot to savor. But
it hasn't always been perfectly grilled tailgate brats and annual division titles
for Green Bay fans. There's a lot more to being a Packers fan than just
Cheeseheads, championships and chilly weather.

I just puked my guts out.

So without further ado, but with fitting adulation, here
are the . . .

TOP 10 THINGS ONLY A PACKERS FAN WOULD UNDERSTAND:

1. Being the Meatpackers

Green Bay's football franchise isn't named for some
generic animal or drab color (sorry, almost every other NFL team, and
Cleveland). The name comes from its first sponsor, the Indian Packing Company,
which in 1919 gave $500 to employee Curly Lambeau for uniforms and equipment
for the football team he'd founded.

An infinitely better investment than buying Packer stock.

A year later, Indian was purchased by the Acme Packing
Company, which continued to support the team. So the Packers have, since their
formation, been a nod to the canned meatpacking industry that helped launch
them. Sure beats being named after just another big cat.

2. The Ice Bowl was the original "Miracle on
Ice"

This is so fucking insulting to Jimmy Craig and Mike
Eruzione, and the Iron Rangers, and all Americans.

In 1967, on New Year's Eve, Green Bay and Dallas met at
Lambeau Field in the NFL Championship Game. It was and still is the coldest
game in the history of the league, with a kickoff temperature of 15 degrees
below zero and a wind chill of almost 50 below.

After Lambeau Field's turf-heating system malfunctioned
and the field tarp was removed before the game, the moisture on the ground
froze and created an icy surface that worsened as the day went on and the
stadium's shadows grew. The marching band members' instruments froze to their
lips (so the performance was canceled); the referees' whistles froze to theirs
(so they used only voice commands). Multiple players suffered frostbite.

But with 16 seconds remaining in the game and the Cowboys
ahead 17-14, the Packers had the ball inside the Dallas 1-yard line on third
down. Bart Starr called a timeout and was told by Vince Lombardi, "Run it,
and let's get the hell out of here." Starr called a quarterback sneak and,
behind right guard Jerry Kramer (who Packers fans understand belongs in the
Hall of Fame), ran in for the game-winning touchdown.

Since it was played on a frozen surface 13 years before
the 1980 Olympics, and because it was only the semifinals -- the winner of the
NFL Championship played the winner of the AFL Championship, which was the
Oakland Raiders, for Super Bowl II (and the Packers were victorious) -- the Ice
Bowl comeback was not just one of the greatest football games ever. It was,
with all due respect to Team USA Hockey, the original "Miracle on
Ice."

Fuck yourself.

3. LeRoy was the first Leaper

The Lambeau Leap is as cherished a touchdown celebration
as there is in football (or, at least, it's better than the Sharpie).

At least the Sharpie was clever.

But it wasn't an offensive player that invented the
Leap, even though former Packers wide receiver Robert Brooks popularized it.

Safety LeRoy Butler was the first player to jump into the
adoring arms of Packers fans in the end-zone stands, doing so after he scored a
defensive touchdown in 1993. And even though it wasn't known as the
"Lambeau Leap" until later, the move's legitimacy was evinced after
the NFL grandfathered it into the new rules in 2000 that banned excessive
celebrations.

"We get to break the rules because we're so awesome
and deserve it!"

Some opposing players have tried to do the Lambeau Leap,
but they're always shoved back. Green Bay fans know only a Packer is allowed to
Leap.

4. You can be a part-owner, but you can't get season
tickets

The only publicly owned, non-profit sports organization
in the United States, the Packers have more than 360,000 stockholders that
collectively own more than five million shares of stock. The franchise's
original articles of incorporation establish that there can be no financial
gain for shareholders. The team has held stock sales a few times in its
history, most recently in 2011, where any individual can buy in (in 2011 a
share of Packers stock cost $250).

While it's essentially just a piece of paper -- Packers
stock doesn't come with the rights and privileges of regular stock and has no
economic value

He is bragging that Packer fans are bad investors

-- Green Bay fans are proud to frame and display their
shareholder certificates in their man caves, living rooms and front hallways.

Why don't they just print one out? Idiots.

But while they can become a part-owner of the team they
love, Packers fans cannot -- at least for the next millennium or so -- buy
season tickets to see the team they love. Every Packers game for the past 54
years has been sold out and the team's season-ticket waiting list has nearly
90,000 people on it. It's said that the average wait time to get season tickets
is about 30 years; but given the team's estimate that less than 100 tickets a
year actually turn over, a hopeful fan that added his/her name to the list
today would have to wait more than 950 years to receive theirs. Packers fans
commonly pass their season tickets down to family members in their wills. They
understand that while they're giving up their seats, they're getting an even
better view.

Is he serious with this line?

5. Never mention the name "Tony Mandarich"
or the words "fourth-and-26"

In 1989, the Packers had the second overall pick in the
draft and they used it on hulking offensive lineman Tony Mandarich. Considered
the best offensive-line prospect ever, Mandarich turned out to be one of the
biggest draft busts in NFL history. Arrogant, lazy and, it was later revealed,
a steroid user, Mandarich was cut after three seasons.

What makes the pick even worse for Packers fans is that,
when Green Bay selected Mandarich No. 2, the team passed on future Hall of
Famers Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas and Deion Sanders, among others. Ouch.

:)

Also atop the list of things that will make Cheeseheads
stick their fingers in their ears and yell "Lalalala" are the words
"fourth-and-26," a reference to the infamous play in 2004 during a
divisional playoff game between the Packers and Eagles. Green Bay led 17-14
late in the fourth quarter when Philadelphia, with no timeouts, faced fourth
down and 26 yards to go.

Without going into too much painful detail, suffice it to
say Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb completed a pass to receiver Freddie
Mitchell -- amid abhorrent coverage (looking at you, Darren Sharper) -- that
was somehow just enough for the first down. Soon after, kicker David Akers converted
a field goal that tied the game. In overtime, after (of course) a Brett Favre
interception, Akers made another field goal to give Philadelphia the victory.

Tony Mandarich and Freddie Mitchell, two first-round
busts that both managed to rip out the hearts of Packers fans.

6. Drinks at Lambeau are either way too hot or way too
cold

Anyone who's ever been at a Packers home game in winter
and gotten out of his/her bleacher seat to get a beverage has had one, the
other or both of the standard, horrible, drink-related experiences.

You're ice-cold and want to warm up with a nice hot
chocolate, so you buy one, take a sip and -- OMG OW! It's scalding hot and
you've now singed off much of your tongue and melted most of your mouth. Enjoy
those delicious cheese curds with your eradicated taste buds!

Or, you're ice-cold and want to warm up by putting on a
"booze blanket," so you go to the beer stand, purchase one, return to
your seat and find that -- oh, terrific! -- your frosty brew is now literally
frozen solid. Have fun chipping away at that beercicle for the next 45 minutes!

"We're better fans because we go out in the
elements" *bitches for a whole paragraph about the cold*

7. Super Bowl XXXI was domination; Super Bowl XLV was
destiny

"Destiny." This is what makes Packer fans
the worst. They think they're superior people rather than people who just
happen to root for a good team.

In 1996, the Packers, assembled by general manager Ron
Wolf and coached by Mike Holmgren (who looked like a beached walrus),
were a total football juggernaut. Led by quarterback Brett Favre, defensive
lineman Reggie White and returner Desmond Howard, Green Bay was No. 1 in the
league in offense, defense and special teams. The Packers were the first team
since the 1972 Dolphins to lead the NFL in offense and defense in the same
season.

That squad went 13-3, won its division, cruised through
the playoffs and beat the New England Patriots for Green Bay's first Super Bowl
title since the Lombardi era. It was a flex-your-muscles, dominant kind of
season.

In 2010, the Packers, assembled by general manager Ted
Thompson and coached by Mike McCarthy, were a Cinderella story of a team coming
together late in the season and going on a magical run. Led by quarterback
Aaron Rodgers, cornerback Charles Woodson and aided by several undrafted and
street free agents (scrappy), Green Bay was ninth in
the league in offense, fifth in defense and had decent special teams.

Despite 16 players on injured reserve, including seven
starters, the Packers won the final two games of the regular season to sneak
into the postseason as the No. 6 seed. There, they got Lambeau-hot-chocolate
hot and proceeded to roll through the NFC playoffs, ultimately defeating the
Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, with Rodgers being named the game's MVP.
It was an against-all-odds, destined-to-be kind of season.

8. No. 4 was unforgettable, but going to Minnesota was
unforgiveable

You guys ran him out of town.

Brett Favre led Green Bay out of its 25-year-long dark
age, winning three Most Valuable Player awards, capturing a Super Bowl and
leading the Packers with a vigorously entertaining, excitingly unpredictable
style that endeared him to fans for two decades.

That is, until he retired and unretired, retired and
unretired again, went to New York to play for the Jets, and then committed the
Packers-fan equivalent of a mortal sin. Favre went full turncoat when he
crossed the border to Minnesota and wore the hated purple. Not only did he play
for the Vikings, but in 2009 he beat the Packers twice -- including in his
much-ballyhooed return to Lambeau – and led the Vikings to a 12-4 record and
the NFC Championship Game, while going to the Pro Bowl.

After Favre left Green Bay on sour terms -- varying
reports say either Thompson or McCarthy, or both, didn't want him back in 2008,
choosing to go with young Rodgers -- there was a schism in Packer Nation. It
seemed like half the fan base decried the decision to let the beloved Favre go,
while half were tired of his indecision and wanted to see what Rodgers could
do. Nearly all, though, considered playing for Minnesota an awful, treacherous,
reprehensible betrayal.

While most of the Lambeau Field faithful are adorned in
green and gold, there are certainly plenty that choose to wear something else
(or not much at all).

Late in the fall, after Wisconsin's deer hunting season
has begun, it's quite common to see thousands of Packer fans dressed in blaze
orange hunting gear. Many of them hunt earlier in the day before the game,
while some just like the look.

Must be noted that it is a horrible look.

No matter what, they're assuredly not Bengals fans.

Then there's the cold-unfeeling bikini girls, who have
been known to show up to games in just a teensy top and, usually, clever signs.
Last season, when Rodgers was out with a broken collarbone, four girls in
bikinis held up signs that said: "Rodgers out? You gotta 'bikini'
me!"

HILARIOUS LOL

It was late November and the temperature was below 20
degrees.

And, of course, St. Vince. A diehard fan who wears a
green robe and Packers vestments, a bishop's headdress depicting the smiling
face of Vince Lombardi and a papal Cheesehead staff, St. Vince is adored in the
stands and often shown on television. Sacrilegious? Not if it's the Packers you
worship.

They really think they're God's team. Packer fans
are the "won't you think of the children" lady on The Simpsons.

10. Green Bay exists for Packers football

Most of the year, Green Bay is a perfectly nice, low-key
Wisconsin city of about 100,000 people that's off the beaten path and generally
lacking in the major goings-on department.

Besides wrongful convictions and coverups. But
for eight days a year (not counting preseason or playoffs), when the Packers
have a home game, it becomes a lively and bustling place to be, a happening hub
of commercial activity, media attention and jam-packed-crowd excitement, a land
of a hundred front-yard-converted parking lots and a thousand smoky tailgates,
of back-and-forth-tossed pigskins, reverberating "Go Pack Go!" chants
and green and gold and guts and grins. Because when the home team plays football,
Packers fans understand Green Bay is the center of the universe.